At its December 2017 meeting, the South Brighton Residents' Association passed a vote of no confidence in Regenerate Christchurch, the entity jointly funded by the Crown and Council that was established in 2016 to lead the regeneration of the city.

After more than a dozen meetings between the SBRA and Regenerate Christchurch, no progress has been achieved in South Brighton and no solutions have yet been proposed to address the earthquake-induced damage in the suburb. The decision to pass the vote of no confidence was taken against the background of continuing obstruction and stonewalling from other public authorities and central government.

SBRA chair Hugo Kristinsson said the process was extremely frustrating: "Every time we ask about a serious problem, we are told the authorities share our concerns and then they do nothing. We have witnessed this pattern of behaviour for years".

In April 2016, it was discovered that the Council had been applying incorrect floor levels for an area in South Brighton and had consented houses that were built more than 50 cm below the minimum height required by the Building Act. The Mayor and council gave assurances that they would communicate with the affected residents to provide solutions. They have not done so and there has been no communication since November 2017.

In August 2017, Christchurch City Council announced it would be taking responsibility for the earthquake legacy issues in South Brighton. It then set up a team that was to report back with solutions by November 2017. The Mayor told the SBRA that she was not happy with the length of time the unit would take to bring its findings to council. She claimed council staff had arranged this without consulting her. Nothing more has been heard about the report or its findings since. The SBRA also asked for explanations of why different suburb boundaries were shown in maps published by Council, and why South Brighton had been excluded for various key reports commissioned by the council. A submission on these matters was made to the full council on 5 October 2017. The Deputy Mayor told the residents' association that these issues would be referred to staff. There has been no response since.

On 5 December 2017, the South Brighton Residents' Association met with Environment Canterbury senior staff. Among the errors and omissions discussed were conflicting maps for erosion in the lower Avon area published by ECan in 2012 and 2015 respectively. The earlier map showed extensive areas subject to erosion, while the more recent map showed no erosion. A transcript of the discussion and a letter detailing the errors and omissions was sent to ECan on 13 December 2017. Despite a further request for an explanation, there has been no response since.

A formal notification of flooding liability was sent to both Christchurch City Council and Environment Canterbury on 13 October 2017. At a council meeting shortly afterwards, the Mayor claimed that ECan was liable for any failure of the stop bank in the South Brighton area. Shortly afterwards, at the meeting with the SBRA at the start of December 2017, ECan's General Counsel denied all liability. There has been no clarification from either authority as to which of them will be liable.

At the ECan meeting, the SBRA also questioned the role of the 'How' team, a "community-led" group that has been created by Regenerate Christchurch to "prepare an engagement plan for Regenerate Christchurch" in our area. The group "convenor" is a Senior Strategic Advisor at Environment Canterbury. This appears to be a direct conflict of interest. The SBRA sees the creation of this group as a way for the authorities to circumvent their obligations as detailed above.

For all of these reasons, the South Brighton Residents' Association does not wish to participate in any process that Regenerate Christchurch or the "How" team may initiate. Transparency and accountability is needed from the authorities responsible. Land damage in the suburb needs to be dealt with now.

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